RMS Playground Update

onAugust 7, 2013

The team from the Rochester Memorial School Playground Project is proud to announce that all systems are go for the Community Build on August 10. After four years without a playground for Grades 2-6 at the K-6 school, the wait will soon be over.

To prepare for August 10, volunteers were recruited at the end of the 2012-13 school year. This able-bodied corps is comprised of RMS parents, RMS staff, ORR staff, and local folks who want to help. They will spend Saturday wielding wrenches and shovels under the watchful eye of Miracle Equipment Contractor/Rep, Cindy Maak (also of Rochester).

By nightfall, a new playground will be in place for the enjoyment of 500-plus children from Grades 2-6, their families, and the surrounding community. The new playground will be fully ADA-compliant (American with Disabilities Act), so kids of different abilities can play alongside each other.

The Rochester Lion’s Club has generously agreed to donate a cookout lunch for volunteers. The concrete delivery (mid-afternoon on a Saturday) is vital to this project and one of the hardest elements to resolve. The committee was elated when a local company, S&S Forms/Preferred Concrete, not only agreed to make the delivery, but also donated a large portion of the materials and time.

Another huge boost for the project’s success came last Spring when Lowe’s Home Improvement Store of Wareham chose the 2013 RMS Playground Project as their “Lowe’s Heroes Project of the Year.” Since then, the Playground Committee has been very grateful for the consistent generosity and support of Human Resources Manager, Jessica Silva and the team she put together after making the decision to support the RMS project. Thanks to Lowe’s Wareham, picnic tables and park benches have been donated, which can be used throughout the school year lessons and recess. After hours, the seating will allow busy parents to sit (with younger children, for example), relax, and watch their kids play. Wareham’s Lowe’s Heroes Volunteers will be assembling, water-sealing, delivering, and anchoring the tables and benches. The RMS Playground Committee is comprised of two parents, Donna Fourcier and Erin Bednarczyk, Co-Chairs, and two teachers, Kevin Woodward, Phys. Ed., and Craig Davignon, Grade 4. To learn more about the project, its history, and to make a donation, please visit www.rmsplaygroundproject.weebly.com.